AN estimated five million primary and high school students in China currently suffer from spinal deformities, with the number increasing by about 300,000 every year.
A report by China Central Television (CCTV) said scoliosis has become the third major disease endangering the health of Chinese children and adolescents following obesity and myopia.
According to the report, a 13-year-old girl from Hengshui, in North China's Hebei Province, was diagnosed with severe scoliosis, which a doctor thought was caused by long-term poor sitting posture.
If her condition was not fixed, it could result in uneven shoulders, legs of different lengths, body deformities and other serious consequences.
The Global Times reports that on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo, many netizens attributed the situation to students' heavy schoolbags, and inappropriate sizes and heights of desks for children in different physical developmental stages.
A netizen pointed out that although Chinese children's average height is taller today than in the past, the sizes of desks and chairs remain unchanged.
Peking University People's Hospital department of spine surgery chief Dr Liu Haiying said scoliosis was a deformity of the spine that caused it to deviate from the normal midline, which is combined with a rotation of the spine.
According to Liu, there are many types of scoliosis with the most common being congenital scoliosis, idiopathic scoliosis and neuromuscular scoliosis.
Idiopathic scoliosis is the most common type that affects children and adolescents.
It appears in childhood or adolescence when children and adolescents grow and develop the fastest.
It is believed that besides poor sitting postures, carrying schoolbags improperly, and the height of desks and chairs can also be factors that could cause the disease.
Women at the peak of their growth are more likely to suffer from the disease, with an incidence rate up to 1.5 times as often as men.
Currently in China, scoliosis screening has been included in the routine physical examinations of every school year or the routine physical examinations for freshmen.
According to the Times report, experts said early detection and diagnosis are the best prevention and treatment strategies for scoliosis.
They also reminded that physical exercises, such as hanging on a bar, playing basketball and swimming are also good options to prevent scoliosis.